Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective
Capabilities (CBDRRC) is a principle within the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that
acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities
of individual countries in addressing climate change.
The principle of CBDRRC is enshrined in the 1992 UNFCCC treaty,
which was ratified by all participating countries. The text of the
convention reads: the global nature of climate change calls for the
widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in
an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with
their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities and their social and economic conditions. CBDR-RC has
served as a guiding principle as well as a source of contention in the
UN climate negotiations.
Reflecting CBDR-RC, the Convention divided countries into Annex
I and non-Annex I, the former generally referring to developed
countries and the latter to developing countries. Under the Convention
Annex I countries have a greater mitigation role than non Annex-I
countries.
Since 1992 countries like China have gained new capabilities while
maintaining relatively low per capita emissions, and tensions about
the defined lines of the Annex I and non-Annex I countries have
arisen. CBDR-RC and the annex classifications were codified in the
1997 Kyoto Protocol, and Annex I country emissions reductions were
legally bound. A primary driver for the failure of the U.S. to ratify the
Kyoto Protocol was the domestic concern that middle-income
developing countries were not required to take action to address their
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions despite their growing capability.
In the years following the 1992 treaty, the trajectory of emissions in
populous developing countries also drew attention. Fossil fuelbased
development by heavily populated developing countries would
prevent stabilization of GHG concentrations the agreed upon
ultimate objective of the UNFCCC because much of the global
emissions budget has already been exhausted by emissions from
developed countries. Controversy ensued over the question of
responsibility for the costs entailed in switching to a sustainable
development path, particularly for large but poor countries with very
low per-capita emissions and very little access to finance.
However, in more recent UNFCCC agreements starting with Durban
in 2011 Parties have changed their position to allow for countries to
individually determine their contribution to addressing GHG
emissions. This new climate agreement is to be applicable to all,
and approaches differentiation through the implementation of a
bottomup scheme to determine a global effort.
CBDR-RC remains a sticking point, as does the role of equity
(historic versus current responsibility for climate change), the role of
Annexes, and the role each country should play in UNFCCC climate
negotiations. In the 2014 negotiations in Lima, Parties agreed on a
new phrase, common but differentiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances,
perhaps hinting at how an agreement in Paris would address the issue.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which
commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission
reduction targets.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for
the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result
of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a
heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common
but differentiated responsibilities."
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December
1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules
for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in
Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh
Accords." Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in
2012.
Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective
Capabilities (CBDRRC) is a principle within the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that
acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities
of individual countries in addressing climate change.
The principle of CBDRRC is enshrined in the 1992 UNFCCC treaty,
which was ratified by all participating countries. The text of the
convention reads: the global nature of climate change calls for the
widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in
an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with
their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities and their social and economic conditions. CBDR-RC has
served as a guiding principle as well as a source of contention in the
UN climate negotiations.
Reflecting CBDR-RC, the Convention divided countries into Annex
I and non-Annex I, the former generally referring to developed
countries and the latter to developing countries. Under the Convention
Annex I countries have a greater mitigation role than non Annex-I
countries.
Since 1992 countries like China have gained new capabilities while
maintaining relatively low per capita emissions, and tensions about
the defined lines of the Annex I and non-Annex I countries have
arisen. CBDR-RC and the annex classifications were codified in the
1997 Kyoto Protocol, and Annex I country emissions reductions were
legally bound. A primary driver for the failure of the U.S. to ratify the
Kyoto Protocol was the domestic concern that middle-income
developing countries were not required to take action to address their
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions despite their growing capability.
In the years following the 1992 treaty, the trajectory of emissions in
populous developing countries also drew attention. Fossil fuelbased
development by heavily populated developing countries would
prevent stabilization of GHG concentrations the agreed upon
ultimate objective of the UNFCCC because much of the global
emissions budget has already been exhausted by emissions from
developed countries. Controversy ensued over the question of
responsibility for the costs entailed in switching to a sustainable
development path, particularly for large but poor countries with very
low per-capita emissions and very little access to finance.
However, in more recent UNFCCC agreements starting with Durban
in 2011 Parties have changed their position to allow for countries to
individually determine their contribution to addressing GHG
emissions. This new climate agreement is to be applicable to all,
and approaches differentiation through the implementation of a
bottomup scheme to determine a global effort.
CBDR-RC remains a sticking point, as does the role of equity
(historic versus current responsibility for climate change), the role of
Annexes, and the role each country should play in UNFCCC climate
negotiations. In the 2014 negotiations in Lima, Parties agreed on a
new phrase, common but differentiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances,
perhaps hinting at how an agreement in Paris would address the issue.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which
commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission
reduction targets.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for
the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result
of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a
heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common
but differentiated responsibilities."
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December
1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules
for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in
Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh
Accords." Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in
2012.